Campbell River

Campbell River sits on Discovery Passage, the narrow channel between the island and Quadra Island where the tide runs like a river, and it has built its visitor economy on what passes through it: salmon, humpbacks, orcas and — across the strait in the mainland inlets — grizzly bears. The marina downtown is where the day begins for almost everything listed on this site from here.

The grizzly tours are the reason most visitors come. They cross the strait by boat to the heads of Bute Inlet and Toba Inlet on the mainland, where salmon rivers draw bears from late August into October; several are run by Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours, the Homalco First Nation's tourism company, with cultural interpretation as part of the day. The whale trips are shorter and run through summer, and the fishing charters are a serious local industry — the town calls itself the salmon capital of the world and has for decades.

As a town it is functional rather than pretty: a long waterfront strip, big-box stores on the highway, good coffee, and Elk Falls Provincial Park with its suspension bridge ten minutes out. Quadra Island, a short ferry hop, is the quieter place to stay if you have a car.